Effingham Airport Officials Discuss New Hangar Cost, Runway Extension

Feb. 11—Airport Superintendent Greg Koester told the Effingham County Memorial Airport Commission that it should hire a consultant to analyze revenue vs. cost for a new T-hangar.

Koester, who is also the county engineer, said the commission should also survey current T-hangar tenants to measure their interest in the new T-hangar project, gauging whether they would pay extra for a new hangar. He said the existing T-hangar is approximately 50 years old.

If the proposed T-hangar is deemed financially feasible, it could feature eight bays for small aircraft storage west of the existing T-hangar, running north and south, with a large hangar or jet pod on the north end. However, a final configuration has not been officially established. Airport Manager Jerry Tate estimates the cost of the T-hangar project to be no more than $750,000 for the pavement and building.

"Everything depends upon the final configuration," Koester said.

Koester said if the commission approves the project by May with detailed specifications, it could go out for bid in July and construction could begin next fall.

"Maybe they can start next spring (2022) on pavements if everything comes together," Koester said.

The pavement would surround the new T-hangar and allow for expansion.

Airport Commission Chairman Q. Anthony Siemer said that if the commission uses a bond issue to finance the project, it should hire an attorney with expertise.

"If you're going to have a bond issue of that size, you're really going to need a bond attorney," Siemer said.

Meanwhile, discussions continued on a proposed 900-foot extension of the northwest to southeast runway, 11-29. The extension would make runway 11-29 a total of 6,000 feet long and 75 feet wide. Additional pavement would be added to runway 29, to the southeast, from the end of the runway.

Koester said there is a possibility they would have to relocate County Road 1500 East because it falls within the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ), located to the east of runway 29. He said if CR 1500 East would need to be relocated further east (further away from the end of the runway), the road relocation would be an Effingham County Highway Department project with a cost of fuel, county labor, equipment (county owned) and materials since the county owns the property.

"We have a 50/50 chance the runway will be extended. We must get our Airport Layout Plan approved," Koester said.

He said the Airport Layout Plan is an overall plan for the airport.

"Any improvements to the airport must be consistent with the Airport Layout Plan," Koester said.

Along with a runway extension project, there is a taxiway extension project proposed. The taxiway runs parallel to runway 11-29, allowing planes to taxi to the end of extended runway 29. Koester said an Environmental Assessment (EA) was made for the runway project and approved. He said EAs include noise and wildlife assessments.

The airport also has another runway, 1-19, that is 3,400 feet long and 60 feet wide.

In other discussions, Tate said business was really slow during the month of January. He said he sold only 4,000 gallons of fuel for the month. Tate said the fuel flow surcharge for January was $260. The commission waved the monthly fuel flow fee for Tate's Flying Service, Inc. until May 1.

Questions were raised as to when runways at the Effingham airport were cleared. Tate said there is a standing rule of not clearing the runway until it has an accumulation of two inches of snow.

"You can make a bigger mess when you try to clear it off and it refreezes," Tate said.

Charles Mills can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 217-347-7151 ext. 126.

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